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Oezil not giving up on La Liga

Mesut Oezil believes Real Madrid are still in with a chance of retaining their La Liga title.

The Germany international scored twice as Real battled back from behind to seal a 3-2 win over Valladolid on Saturday and, despite the fact his side trail Barcelona by eight points, he believes there is still cause for optimism this season.

"We are happy because we played well and got the most important thing, which are the three points," the 24-year-old told journalists after the game.

"We are still in the fight. There is a long way to go in the league. They were a tough team and it was a difficult field to play on. In the first half Valladolid played very well, but in the second half we played some good football and we got the goal."

Oezil has now scored four times in 15 league fixtures and added that he was satisfied with his own contribution on the pitch, which included scoring a free-kick with 18 minutes remaining to earn the three points for the visitors.

"I feel good physically and the free-kick was very nice," he said.

"I was confident that I would score it. I'm happy that I scored twice."